A review by jjwilbourne
Dragon Wing by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

adventurous medium-paced

4.0

The Death Gate Cycle was one of the first fantasy novel series I read after I realized that high fantasy was my preferred genre. I have a fond memory of sitting on the floor of Borders Books (RIP), pulling out books, looking at the covers, and reading the back with no idea what I should read next. And this one struck me as something to try. I loved it back then, and I was curious how Dragon Wing would hold up in adulthood.

Long after the world is split into four distinct realms, Haplo—an escaped captive of a labyrinth devised by powerful wizards—enters Arianus, the Realm of Sky, where water is a scarce resource and dominates the dynamics between the races of humans, elves, and dwarves. There Haplo meets a dwarf by the name of Limbeck who has made it his mission to uncover the truth of why dwarves are slaves to the elves—tasked with caring for an enormous machine for generations. But things are complicated when an assassin, a prince, and a bumbling chamberlain crash into the dwarven lands, driving their society into chaos. Together, the unlikely companions unravel the plot of a powerful wizard to control all of Arianus as the mysteries of this world’s tragic past are revealed.

Weis & Hickman are more known for their work on the Dragonlance novels for Wizards of the Coast, and many fantasy readers attribute that series as their primary entry point to high fantasy storytelling. Overshadowed by their D&D hit, I feel as though this series isn’t remembered as fondly, but on re-read, I found it to be almost as fantastic as it was when I read it originally.

Dragon Wing follows characters that are deeply sympathetic and have more to them than meets the eye. And while I thought some flashbacks were unnecessary, the characters’ pasts inform their motivations. Limbeck’s story resonates with me, particularly because a story of disillusionment and pushing against the norms of society is one I identify with.

I didn’t recall the omniscient narrator in this novel, but unlike so many stories, I thought that it was put to good use. I always hold that novels with an omniscient narrator must deftly wield dramatic irony to drive tension rather than mystery. And while there is plenty of mystery to this story, Weis and Hickman use dramatic irony to great effect as well.

The magic system and worldbuilding for The Death Gate Cycle are fantastic—above and beyond what’s expected. Though I felt that the footnotes were more of a distraction than useful as a means of clarification (I would have preferred it to just be well-explained within the narrative or not at all), the end-notes are also a wonderful addition for fans who want to dive into how the magic of this world functions. Plus, they took the time to actually write sheet music for songs in the story and place them in the book for you to play yourself. That. Is. Awesome.

Dragon Wing is an excellent story to pick up if you’re a fan of Weis & Hickman, immersing yourself in a fantastic world, or love the late 80s fantasy that served as a foundation to the contemporary epic fantasy of the past couple of decades. Tolkien, R. A. Salvator, and Eddings fans should check this one out if you haven’t already.